In summary:
With Golden State, UK rockers Bush have finally managed to strike the balance between the irresistible singles of their debut LP, Sixteen Stone, and the consistently good output of their third LP, The Science Of Things. Packed with great hooks, tight production, and very little filler, this is easily one of the albums of the year.
Golden State receives 9/11.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Let’s cut to the chase; Golden State is an incredible record.
The fourth album from UK rockers Bush sees them put all of the pieces of the puzzle together, finally delivering the fantastic hard rock record they always believed they could make.
Beginning as a track which wouldn’t sound out of place on 1996’s Razorblade Suitcase, opener Solutions launches into a loud-as-fuck guitar drop straight out of The Science Of Things, and this sets the tone for what’s to come; tight, melodic songs, high-end production, and guitar hooks aplenty.
They do occasionally slip back into the grunge-by-numbers formula which brought so much criticism their way in the mid-90s (most notably on second track Headful Of Ghosts), but for the most part, Golden State demonstrates how Bush have perfected the quiet/loud song structures which made them famous all those years ago.
Album highlights include the rollicking The People That We Love, the desperate Inflatable (“You’re so pretty in white / Pretty when you’re faithful”), and the outrageously good album closer Float.
Interestingly, much of the album’s story took place outside of the studio. The band decided to recall all of their merchandise and promotional content at the last possible moment in order to make changes after the September 11th attacks, which occurred just four weeks before release. This included a name change for lead single The People That We Love (originally titled Speed Kills), a lyric change in the song Headful Of Ghosts (the word “terrorist” becoming “maverick”), and the album artwork, which was originally set to feature the outline of an airplane travelling at speed. Eek.
Having previously penned the likes of Glycerine, Bonedriven, and Letting The Cables Sleep, fans of the band are used to Gavin Rossdale’s stripped-back ballads being the main focus, but it’s actually the rockers which steal the show on Golden State. No longer shackled by their attempts to impress music critics, the electric Superman (“Long slow rope still hanging”), Fugitive, Hurricane, and Reasons (I don’t even know / If I can swim again / You know how cold it gets / With all your struggling”) show a band playing with a level of musical freedom not displayed on any of their previous work, and it sounds great.
Golden State closes out with a four-track combination which is as strong as anything Bush have released before.
They deliver a career highlight performance on Land Of The Living, which takes the promise shown on 1996’s Razorblade Suitcase and demonstrates how good it may have been had it had received proper production in the studio. Rossdale in particular excels here. Undoubtedly a talented singer, fans of the band had spent years hoping he would remove himself from Bush’s restrictive vocal melodies and simply let his voice go. They get their wish at precisely 2:57 of this track, resulting in an outro frought with pent-up frustration and emotion, on which you can audibly tell he’s having lots of fun.
This segues into the furious My Engine Is With You (possibly the heaviest thing they’ve ever recorded), the haunting Out Of This World (“Are you drowning or waving?”), and Float; another career highlight track, with a pre-chorus key change that’ll make the hairs on your arms stand up, cementing Golden State as the finest album of Bush’s career.
Unfortunately for them, nobody was listening. By the time the album was released, America was in the throes of nu-metal, and sales for this record were diabolical. This led to lead guitarist Nigel Pulsford quitting the band the following spring, and Bush were placed on a decade-long hiatus.
In summary:
With Golden State, UK rockers Bush have finally managed to strike the balance between the irresistible singles of their debut LP, Sixteen Stone, and the consistently good output of their third LP, The Science Of Things. Packed with great hooks, tight production, and very little filler, this is easily one of the albums of the year.
Golden State receives 9/11.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
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